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Westerland Military
The Westerlands have a long and varied military tradition, that has changed dramatically from era to era. Both during the Imperial Era and during the Colonial Era, the Westerlands largely utilized differing complex military ranking systems similar to a modern military hierarchy - I recommend using a Generic Military ranking hierarchy instead, as it will be easier for all players. Military has played a key role in Westerland Society and Culture. Military Demographics A settlement has roughly 1 reaver or corpsman per 15 inhabitants, but has, on average, 1 watchmen per 5 inhabitants and roughly 1 bannerman per per 30 inhabitants, and 1 Militia-Sergeant or Militia-Banneret per 120 inhabitants and the local authority has roughly 1 squire per 120 inhabitants found in the entire fiefdom. * These demographics count women, children and elderly, and assumes everyone who isn't a child or elderly, is able-bodied and has not managed to find a way to wiggle out of military obligations. Terminology In the Post-Imperial Era, military units are organized in "Banners", which in turn consisted of a number of Lines, Lances or Troops. Banner A Banner was essentially an order given to a local trusted agent (a Banneret) to form a unit of a specific description that meets a specific level of training - Militias and Watches are no exception to Banners, but often the Banners are rather default in such cases, as not to be impossible to accomplish. Line A Line was a component of a unit consisting of footmen of some sort, be they archers or pikemen, any conventional fighting formation was divided into lines. Troop A Troop was the same as a Line, but for dedicated cavalrymen. Lance The same as a Line, but for specialists or otherwise undetermined units. Conscripts Conscripts were involuntary soldiers from the lower classes of society. Their services are usually unpaid and are simply considered a civic-duty, but they are usually given food and water while serving, and if called into active duty, their households cannot be taxed. Conscripted Soldiers Conscripted Soldiers are basically just mobs of peasants who have been forced out into the field, using what ever they can find to fight with and defend themselves, typically with no experience at all. * It is a pitiful lord who has to rely on Conscripted Soldiers for warfare, but if it has to happen, most leaders of such units tend to try to manufacture some sort of simple uniform, even if it is just a braided arm-band and perhaps a pike, as uniformity is key for training which is key for survival. * In poor provinces, this was sometimes the only kind of soldiers who could be drummed up, as there simply were no weapons or armor to find, and no time to produce it even if it could be afforded. Watchmen Watchmen are organized into "Watches", and their leaders are commonly members of the Guardcorps, or a local Reaver, identified as the Watch-Commander. Any able-bodied man of age can be conscripted into the local Watch. * Watches typically have no formal training predating their conscription, as those that do, are exempt from conscription due to having military obligations of other forms. * Watchmen are commonly equipped with some sort of simple garment that marks them as members of the watch and typically some sort of helmet - usually featuring an aventail, to make the item simpler to don, as well as some simple armor accessories, intended solely to make it harder to kill them before they even have a chance to cry out. They are commonly outfitted with a mace, a dagger and either an infantry crossbow, a shield and some sort of polearm. * The local settlement usually trains its new watchmen during after sowing season, for about 2 weeks, and then the selected watchmen will start taking watches - this includes sitting sentry at lookout towers, patrolling the streets at night to watch for fires, escaped livestock and such as well as guarding the entry points to the settlement so that no-one can enter the settlement unnoticed - typically accompanied by Reaver, or a City-Guard if the settlement is large enough to have those. * The Watchmen are trained once a month, after worship, alongside the Citizen Soldiers. Citizen Soldiers Citizen Soldiers are Soldiers who typically work part-time as Soldiers, but have formal training and are outfitted with decent combat equipment. * The local authority will, every so often, hold a large 6 month training camp, or perhaps do a split training camp with three months in after harvest and three months after sowing. This was when a lot of Citizen Soldiers would spring to get their initial basic training. * Most citizen soldiers were paid a symbolic amount for their services, but while on duty, they were provided food and beverage. * Citizen soldiers tended to drill, with some exceptions, every week after worship, and then typically once a month, the training would be particularly significant, often lasting 2-3 days into the week. * Twice annually, the Citizen Soldiers would meet up for large training exercises, typically lasting 2 weeks, occurring after sowing and after harvest. Reavers Coming from the stocks of the Burgess, Reavers have a vested interest in protecting their lands and staying on the good side of the local authority, as due to landownership, they are commonly very heavily invested in the area. * In the Westerlands, the term "Reaver" is merging of the term "Reeve" and "Reiver", but none of these words have any separate meaning anymore and are synonymous with Reaver. * Every Burgess Household must supply a single able-bodied man of age, to serve in the Citizen-Militia, for their most immediate liege-lord - a Burgess Household being understood as a Household that owns, either a residence inside a Citadel, or a whole plot of land in a shire. * The household also had to sponsor the man's equipment. * Reavers were commonly the descendants of Bannermen or Men-at-Arms, thus hailing from military families, who were typically given a plot of land for their services, and already had training and equipment within the family. * The Reaver was typically the first-born son. It was common, that at least one of the younger sons of the Household would seek employment as men-at-arms or Bannermen, whereas the first born son could not seek full-time employment in the military as he was typically to inherit the family land. * Reavers were commonly skilled archers, but were very versatile as soldiers. As burgess, they typically had formal fencing experience, they were excellent archers and often good riders. * Reavers typically had less experience than Men-at-Arms, but often had more formal training. * Reavers commonly used a cavalry battle-axe as their alternate weapon, but mostly relied on spears and bows in combat. * Reavers are, in addition to armor and equipment, required to field a horse and practice their riding - apart from generally having better equipment, this is the primary circumstance that separates Reavers from other types of Reavers. * Reavers are rather proficient soldiers and are commonly quite well equipped often fielding a helmet, some crude plate accessories, some chain accessories, a gambeson and maybe even a brigandine. * Reavers, as Burgess, would typically sport a Citizen-Sword as their personal side-arm. * Naturally, not every single household, nor every single fiefdom could support the amount of horses required to field mounted Reavers, so it was perfectly normal to have infantry variants. Border-Reavers In the Border-Marches, the Reavers filled their ranks from all who would join (the border-marchers typically did not have a very well established system of social standing, meaning Serfs and Gentry were typically only treated differently if their coin-purses matched their titles), and typically operated almost like mercenaries or brigands, typically raiding in the no-man's-land that existed between nations, where plenty of people tended to try to carve out a living. * When Border-Reavers raided, it was typically not to be understood as that they went on to slaughter people, rather they collected protection money and did in fact also protect these settlements that they collected from. * When times were tough, the Reavers would, however, commonly raid further in-land and actually steal and loot. * Some of them would act as Caravan-Guards, offering safe passage through the border-lands, and would lead their charges to pre-agreed safe-crossings where the travelers had to pay a toll. * Border-Reavers were typically not paid for their services, and typically were responsible for organizing on their own, as well as providing their own equipment, but as it was largely their livelihood to protect the borders (by making them extremely dangerous), they tended to invest heavily in both training and equipment. * Border-Reavers had very little discipline and were practically bandits who worked for loot and spoils, with little morality, though typically fiercely loyal to their Country. * It was exceptionally common to try to hire as many Border-Reavers as one could when war came around, as they made for excellent expendable skirmish cavalry. Corpsmen The Corpsmen were the Citizen-Soldiers of the Burghers, and were members of the Guard-Corps, which was the militia-structure used for Citadels. Corpsmen were, unlike their reaver counterpart, typically not particularly adept as horsemen or archers, but instead typically trained with crossbows and generally relied on polearms. * They served on the same terms as Reavers did, having largely identical training conditions, though it varied considerably how heavily outfitted they tended to be. * Corpsmen were usually the elite of the City Guard, expected to act as leaders among the men-at-arms employed as Guardsmen, with at least a few Corpsmen being on duty at any given time. * Unlike Guardsmen, the Corpsmen were the heartsblood of the city, coming from the trusted burgher families, and were given considerable authority, and had a natural interest in protecting their home, unlike the Guardsmen or the Watch, who were largely motivated by coin or simply didn't have a choice. Bannermen Bannermen are reservist soldiers who have already been trained and maintain a minimum of equipment, in return for a very symbolic amount of pay. They were also paid to attend training with the other Citizen Soldiers, could be paid to assume more active rolls in the Citizen Militia and would, when permitted, typically seek employment with the Watch, often holding leadership roles in the Watch. * The Purpose of Bannermen is to create a military trained reserve that stands ready to be drafted, or volunteer for war. * In order to entice Bannermen to stick around, their service was often guaranteed, as they were land-bound, with their Liege-Lord giving them a plot of land to tend. * The land they were given to tend would become theirs after 20 years as Bannermen, but until then, they rented the land, but were given ownership of their houses, and the surrounding ~0.02 Square kilometers (~5 acres) of living space, which was just enough to feed their immediate family-members. * It was an old Imperial Custom, that guaranteed that the next generation would be Burgess, and by virtue of that, had military obligations as Reavers, which was often easier to maintain, as they could inherit the equipment from their fathers and had already grown up in a military household with a parent who was a suitable military instructor. * Bannermen were paid for the services they did, including their training. They trained at the same times as their Reaver Counterparts, and it was normal for people of the Watch to seek to become Bannermen, and even more so the other way around, as it was a guaranteed source of secondary income. * There weren't always as many bannermen as one could hope, as many employers would not consent to allowing their employees to serve as bannermen, so it was sometimes necessary to force the issue with a sort of conscription - the demographics above assume that this measure has not been taken. Deputies Deputies were basically part-time employed soldiers, who provided military escorts and such. They were typically the same men as found in the other categories, being essentially Bannermen or Reavers, who were simply looking to make extra coin. * The Deputies in particular tended to work for the Sheriff, and escorted him when he collected taxes or had outlaws to hunt. * The correct term for a Deputy would actually be a "Reeve", but it is too close to Reaver, so I opted to use the modern term instead. Militia-Banneret The Citizen-Soldiers have their own leadership, and only the Gentry were trusted to run the militia-banners, and so, those Gentryborn Sons who did not professions that kept them away from home, and also did not become Squires, they would often become Bannerets for the Militia after they were done being Valets. * The Militia-Bannerets had their own internal ranking system when needed, but often divided responsibilities between themselves fairly evenly. * The Militia-Bannerets were generally equipped as Squires, and did carry the honorific title of Esquire. Men-at-Arms Men-at-Arms are commoners who work as soldiers. They are wholly drafted or enlisted, and constantly live under military law. * It is very normal for Bannermen to jump at the chance to become men-at-arms due to the steady work, though they usually have to ask permission to do so, if the person hiring isn't their own liege-lord. * Men-at-Arms tend to use warhammers and battle-axes with equal popularity as their primary weapons, but could not necessarily hope to possess any equipment at all. * A distinction was made between a mob and a group of men-at-arms, as men-at-arms were at least afforded uniforms as a minimum, but traditionally carried arming swords as symbols of their positions. * Men-at-Arms served full-time in the military, which was not as lucrative as it sounded. Most of their disposable income went towards food for themselves, their children and their spouses, as well as other general living expenses, and any excess funds typically went towards better equipment. * In order to make it feasible to serve as a Man-at-Arms, the soldier was given, upon swearing his oath (typically binding him for 20 years), a plot of land, which he typically either rented out or had some of his extended family live on and tend to, until his own retirement, as during the soldier's employment, he was typically required to live within the Citadel of his Lord. * Alternatively, some men-at-arms were offered lump-sums of cash for completing a shorter contract, but this practice bordered on mercenary work, and was frowned upon. Guardsmen The Senior Guardsmen of the city were permanently stationed in a given Garrison, but most guardsmen were just men-at-arms with no particular purpose at that given time. They frequently went on patrols outside of their stations, and they tended to rotate their guardposts frequently, but commonly lived in the Citadel of their Lord. * There was no effective difference between a man-at-arms and a guardsman, it was was more of a duty-type than a job description, though the term was largely born from the Senior Guardsmen who were typically permanently attached to a given garrison, which was often a retirement position for men-at-arms nearing the ends of their contracts. * Guardsmen usually wore kettlehats for helmets, due to them providing shade from the sun, but their equipment otherwise depended on the position they were filling - gate-guards typically used halberds and wall-guards would carry a crossbow. * Guardsmen did typically not guard the Keep of a castle, as those duties fell to the Knaves (the Household Guard). * If there was no war going on, all men-at-arms were by default Guardsmen. Squires The term Squire means "shield-bearer", and they constituted a military elite, a warrior-caste of society. In the very early post-imperial era, all squires were considered Knights, but sometime towards the end of the early post-imperial era, Knighthood was redefined to refer specifically to the leaders among the squires. * Prospective Squires hail from the Gentry, though their path in life is virtually the same as that of young nobility. * Squires typically (but not always) start their training around age 6-8 as Junior Paiges at their Liege-Lord's Court, trained by his soldiers in martial arts and by his court in court affairs and finally by his Magistrates in the scholarly matters. * Of the Junior Paiges, those that show particular potential in certain areas are often selected for potential careers as courtiers or scholars, but the bulk are usually permitted to progress to become Valets around age 12 to 14. * Valets are, what we in a more modern context would typically call "Squires", though that word has a somewhat different meaning in the Westerlands. They serve as junior assistants to a Squire or a Knight even, if of higher status. Note that Valets do not commonly leave very far from home, but essentially do the same as squires, at least it appears so to the general public, though a Squire would always travel with their assigned charge, hence creating the misconception that Valets and Squires are the same. * When a Valet reaches the age of 15, he either becomes a Squire or a Yeoman, thus entering the ranks of the Squires. * Squires used broadswords, which indicated their position, and typically had at least chain-mail armor for the whole body, and fielded a horse. * All Squires bore the honorific suffix "Esquire", even after their service had ended, unless their service ended, and they had become Knighted, though if they were Knights and still in service, they would still carry the title Esquire, even as Knights. * Squires were particularly well paid by comparison to other soldiers, but this went hand-in-hand with the massive equipment costs that they had to maintain to do their duties, but interestingly, squires were not otherwise particularly well rewarded. It was considered a duty that one was performing for their household, to keep it in good standing, and the household was required to provide a house that the Squire could retire to at the end of their contract, with at least ~0.02 Square kilometers (or ~5 acres) of land around it, and in addition to see to their needs into their retirement, which was often handled by the Household providing a continued allowance of a set amount that they were contractually required to provide the squire and his immediate family - usually enough to live on with dignity. * Squires rarely retired entirely after their 20 years, and most found some sort of employment - often self-employment, with squires selling their property and using the lump-sum of cash to buy a few plots of land somewhere, and become free-farmers, which they naturally had no talent for, due to their backgrounds, so many ended with very diverse farms that unsuccessfully tended some land and more successfully bred some horses and raised some cattle - usually made possible by the continued pension paid by their parent households. * Most Gentry households gave up their second sons as squires, as the first born was intended to take over the family business, and he became a Militia-Banneret instead. * Often, the second son's own household, once married, would often lose its status as Gentry, as, with time, the retired squires tended to move further and further away, starting their own little villages practically at first, but then often just setting up a free farm somewhere on the fringes where land was available - hence, no longer of particular use to society. Yeoman The Yeoman, is the Squire equivalent of the rank of "Private", if compared to modern military. * Yeomen were often recognized by their open-faced helmets, and served as heavy infantry - using horses for transportation of themselves exclusively (making them Dragoons), that were barely barded at all - typically a Hunter. * Yeomen could advance to a few different ranks, and this was typically a guarantee that the Yeomen would be promoted after their first 5 years. Specialists Specialists were Yeomen who had been selected for special duties, such as manning special equipment or given specific duties. They often had specific titles that related to their specific job duties, and differed from the Yeomen who were basically just young warriors. * Arbelsters were dedicated heavy-crossbow men, usually using extremely well-crafted and expensive crossbows that would pierce even the strongest armor, and very accurate as well. * Equestrians were dedicated cavalrymen, riding barded horses and often distinguishable from Knights by their full-helmets. * Engineers were those who operated siege-equipment or similar. Corporal Corporals were Petty Officers (the lowest of officers), working under a Junior Officer. The term "Line" used to refer to a line of men, and the Line Corporal was responsible for his Line when fighting in an infantry formation, and was responsible for repeating orders and shouting them down the line. Similarly, a Troop Corporal was responsible of similar duties in a dedicated cavalry unit - and finally, a Lance Corporal was merely a Corporal of no particular purpose, or assigned to a group of Specialists, more commonly. Sergeants There were several kinds of Sergeants: all having in common that they were especially revered warriors of great skill, with leadership authority. Command Sergeants Command Sergeants, identified individually as Line-, Troop- or Lance-Sergeants, were Junior officers who lead smaller units that composed a banner, with a Corporal as their second-in-command. Sergeants-at-Arms Sergeants-at-Arms were veteran troops of somewhat Elite Status, and ranked as Junior Officers, but did not commonly have any men under them, but rather would be part of a unit of Lance-Sergeants. Staff-Sergeants A Staff-Sergeant, was an assistant Officer, often promoted almost directly to this rank from the rank of Valet, skipping the step of Yeoman entirely. After five years as a Staff-Sergeant, the Staff-Sergeant would either be promoted to Banneret or, more commonly, Knighted. Banneret A Banneret was an Officer in charge of a Banner (a unit of men). There were three kinds of Bannerets: Knight-Bannerets, Squire-Bannerets and Militia-Bannerets (see Citizen-Soldiers, above, for details on this type of banneret). * Knight-Banneret was not an actual rank, but rather a job-description. The actual Knight-Banneret would hold rank of "Knight-Sergeant" or some such, and his rank was largely independent of his position as Banneret, as in either case, he commanded a Banner of Squires. * A trusted Squire could be promoted to Squire-Banneret, and would lead a banner of Men-at-Arms. Typically, he would be given a number of Sergeants to help him. Private Contractors Private Contractor, in reference to a type of security or military unit that sells its services without swearing any kind of oath of alliance beyond what their contract states, is a fairly modern term, but relevant. Private Guards Many people employed private guards to guard their shops or their homes even. It was typically Bannermen who could be paid for such services, and had the equipment and training to perform such duties with competence, but some people hired ordinary individuals for such duties - in which case, the guard was commonly just a man with a club or similar blunt instrument who sat watch. Caravan Guards Caravan Guards escorted merchants around. They were generally tolerated, but were typically rough men from the borders, who came from the ranks of the Border-Reavers, though it wasn't uncommon for them to be former men-at-arms or bannermen who had found such employment, as the guilds did get charters permitting them to hire such individuals. Mercenaries Large organizations of Mercenaries existed largely on the Frontiers and in the Border Reaches. Too dangerous to have roaming around in civilized regions, it was important to keep Mercenaries occupied with wars and contracts if they did exist, as they were a resource for war, but would quickly become a problem if they were to become unemployed. * Mercenaries banded together into Companies, and often had good relationships with each other. If made to fight each other, they would often forego actual fighting, and rely on sieges and a code of honor among themselves, demanding that units that were clearly going to lose, from a strategic point of view, surrendered. * Mercenaries, when marching through civilized regions, were bribed by local authorities, with supplies and prostitutes sent to entertain them, as well as alcohol, to stay on the road or at the very least set up camp only briefly and march on quickly - settlements that didn't offer bribes would risk that the mercenary host found themselves hungry or in need, and would turn to raiding. * Even with these bribes, when mercenaries came through the region, it was common to see many cases of rape, murder, violence, vandalism and theft. * Mercenaries were often chartered, and the mercenaries often had their own guilds, and were particularly common in the Carnala Republics and in the Mark Lands, where they formed the staple of military forces. * Mercenaries were often, despite the core principle of their existence, exclusive to one group of clients - some smaller mercenary groups worked only for the guilds, while some took private contract from Lords and others yet exclusively worked for certain countries. Brigands Today, we use the word "Brigand" to describe a bandit, but at one point, the term Brigand used to refer to mercenaries of particularly low standing, who basically lived as bandits, but often did so legally by preying on border regions, or committing banditry in an enemy nation. * Often, if a mercenary group dissolved, many of its junior members would be forced to take up the lifestyle of a Brigand. * Brigands typically had poor equipment, but decent training and little organization or direction. * Brigands tended to offer services to local authorities, which was a type of blackmail, as if the local authority didn't hire them, the unspoken implication was that they would take up banditry in the region, forcing local authorities to think up potential uses for a group of armed ruffians - sometimes they were asked to camp in a specific place, and guard it, offered food and meager pay for this - other times, they might be asked to patrol up and down a contested water-body or collect bridge, or road tolls, while asked to work on such projects. Sellswords A sellsword differed from a mercenary in that he often was a part of a very small group or even alone, and undertook jobs such as bounty-hunting, instruction in the martial arts and sometimes personal protection or even fighting the battles of the little folk. * Sellswords were, by tradition, not held responsible for the consequences of the actions they were asked to perform, but had to ensure that there were trustworthy witnesses who had also witnessed their orders, or that they had written proof, but for the same reason, their silence was not for sale and they were not assassins, hitmen or otherwise prone to commit underhanded acts, though if contracted to fight a man on behalf of another man, they would do so, and if given specific instructions to kill, they would do so, while making it known who had paid for their services to the public. * At the height of the post-imperial era, being a sellsword required a sort of letter of proof, that was evidence that the sellsword had some sort of formal training. In the early times, and on the fringes of society, this wasn't much a necessity. * As a rule of thumb, a Sellsword would only ever undertake a contract to fight a man, if the giver of the contract was of the same, or higher social standing, than the target. Swornswords Swornswords differed very little from Sellswords, and were merely Knights (of the hedge) of the same profession.